About

Lyn Baranowski is a highly accomplished biopharma executive with over two decades of experience spanning biotech, big pharma, and venture capital, with a significant focus on immunology and respiratory therapeutic areas. As the Chief Executive Officer of Avalyn Pharma, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, she leads efforts to develop targeted inhaled therapies for patients with rare lung diseases, including pulmonary fibrosis and other interstitial lung diseases (ILDs). Under her leadership, Avalyn has advanced innovative inhaled therapies through global Phase 2 development for pulmonary fibrosis. She has also successfully raised more than $275 million for Avalyn from a syndicate of 18 top-tier venture and healthcare investors.

Throughout her career, Ms. Baranowski has played pivotal roles in the development and commercialization of market-shaping therapies, including BREZTRI^®, BEVESPI^®, XOLAIR^®, TOBI^®, RECLAST^®, and BAXDELA^®. She has a proven track record in capital formation, having raised nearly $750 million in private and public financings and leading multiple high-value M&A transactions, including the $1.15 billion sale of Pearl Therapeutics to AstraZeneca and the $3 billion acquisition of Altavant Sciences by Sumitomo Dainippon.

Prior to her role at Avalyn, Ms. Baranowski held multiple leadership roles, including Chief Operating Officer at Altavant Sciences, Vice President of Commercial Development at Pearl Therapeutics, Vice President at a healthcare-focused venture capital firm based in New York, and senior roles in business development, marketing, and public affairs at Novartis Pharmaceuticals in both the U.S. and Switzerland. She brings deep expertise in clinical and commercial strategy, capital formation, and scaling companies from early stage through exit.

Ms. Baranowski holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Arts from American University.

Beyond her corporate responsibilities, Ms. Baranowski is actively involved in the life sciences community. She serves on the Board of Advisors for Life Science Cares and is a key member of the planning committee for the American Thoracic Society’s Respiratory Innovation Summit. Her commitment to innovation, respiratory medicine, and patients was recognized with the 2024 PharmaVoice 100 award. She is known for bringing sharp strategic insight, operational rigor, and a strong patient focus to every company and boardroom she joins.

Doug Carlson is the chief financial officer and chief business officer of Avalyn Pharma. Mr. Carlson brings over 23 years of experience with a multi-disciplinary background in corporate finance, venture capital, M&A, business development and commercial roles with both large and emerging growth biopharma companies.

Prior to Avalyn, Mr. Carlson served as the CFO and COO of Avenge Bio, a clinical-stage, biotech company focused on developing cell-based immunotherapies. Prior to Avenge, he was the CFO and COO of Ikena Oncology (NASDAQ: IKNA) where he led the company’s $120 million Series B and $144 million initial public offering (IPO). Mr. Carlson previously worked at Collegium Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ: COLL) and held numerous roles during his tenure as Vice President of Corporate Development, Business Development and Commercial Operations. At Collegium, he was a member of the management team that led its transformation from a private, clinical-stage company with approximately 15 employees to a publicly traded, commercial business with over 300 employees.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Carlson held senior corporate and business development roles with BTG plc (LSE: BTG, acquired by Boston Scientific), Lundbeck, Inc. (US HQ of H. Lundeck A/S) and Ovation Pharmaceuticals (acquired by H. Lundbeck A/S). Prior to Ovation, Mr. Carlson was an Associate in the healthcare group at Pequot Ventures, the venture capital arm of Pequot Capital Management, Inc. He started his career in the healthcare investing banking group of Cowen & Co. Mr. Carlson received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Trinity College in Hartford, CT.

Melissa Rhodes, Ph.D., D.A.B.T is a business operations leader with extensive operational and clinical development expertise in a variety of indications, including respiratory medicines. Dr. Rhodes most recently led metabolic and neurology product development efforts at Kriya Therapeutics. Earlier in her career, she held the position of chief development officer at Aerami Therapeutics and Altavant Sciences, both of which were focused on the delivery of inhaled medicines. Previously Dr. Rhodes managed nonclinical development programs during tenures at Roivant, GlaxoSmithKline and Erimos Pharmaceuticals, where she became adept at evaluating early stage compounds being considered for clinical development. She holds a Ph.D. in pharmacology and toxicology from Duke University Medical Center and is a Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology.

Howard M. Lazarus, MD, FCCP joined Avalyn Pharma as chief medical officer in 2023, prior to which he was chief medical officer of Altavant Sciences (acquired by Enzyvant). In this role, he was responsible for developing and implementing the clinical development plans for candidates addressing pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), and bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome. Earlier, he was a key member of the clinical development and medical affairs team at Boehringer Ingelheim where he worked on the nintedanib idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) program and at Gilead Sciences where he worked on their IPF and PAH portfolios. Prior to his work at Gilead, Dr. Lazarus practiced as a pulmonary and critical care physician at several health facilities, including Oregon Pulmonary Associates in Portland, OR. In that role, he diagnosed and treated patients with complex pulmonary vascular and interstitial diseases such as IPF and PAH.

Dr. Lazarus earned both a Bachelor of Science in biochemistry and a Doctor of Medicine from McGill University in Montreal, Canada. His residency in internal medicine was at Boston University Medical Center, and he completed a fellowship in pulmonary and critical care medicine at the University of California, San Diego. He is a fellow of the American College of Chest Physicians and a member of the American Thoracic and European Respiratory Societies.

Adam Golden is a strategic legal and business adviser with over 30 years of experience advising biopharma companies. At Avalyn Pharma, Mr. Golden overseas all legal matters and leads the company’s business development function. Prior to joining us, Mr. Golden served as a Partner and Global Head of Life Sciences at Freshfields LLP, a leading global law firm, from May 2021 to May 2026. At Freshfields, Mr. Golden founded and oversaw the build-out of an internationally recognized life sciences practice which received numerous accolades, including Law360’s Life Sciences Group of the Year, and national and global rankings by Chambers and Partners. Prior to Freshfields, Mr. Golden served as a Partner and Head of the New York Corporate Practice Group at Hogan Lovells from February 2014 to May 2021.  Mr. Golden began his career at Kaye Scholer where he spent over twenty years and had roles of increasing responsibility, including Partner and Co-Chair, Corporate Department. Throughout his career, Mr. Golden has advised his clients on mergers and acquisitions, complex collaborations, and other transformative transactions, as well as corporate governance, and SEC and legal compliance. Mr. Golden serves on the Board of Advisors for Life Science Cares.  He holds a J.D. from New York University School of Law and an A.B. in Chemistry from Princeton University.

Jim Bishop joined Avalyn as senior vice president, business operations in 2023, prior to which he was senior vice president, business operations of Enzyvant Therapeutics. Mr. Bishop previously held the role of senior vice president, business operations at Altavant Sciences where he led the integration and restructuring of the combination of Enzyvant and Altavant Sciences. 

Earlier in his career, Mr. Bishop served in business development, operations and project management roles at multiple biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies including Roivant Sciences, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Cabernet Pharmaceuticals and Oxygen Biotherapeutics. He began his career as a scientist at GlaxoSmithKline. Mr. Bishop earned an MBA from Meredith College and a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from Pennsylvania State University.

Craig Conoscenti, M.D., FCCP, ATSF joined Avalyn Pharma as senior vice president, clinical development in 2023, prior to which he was executive director and therapeutic area head, interstitial lung disease clinical development and medical affairs of Boehringer Ingelheim. Dr. Conoscenti held roles of increasing responsibility within ILD clinical research during his time at Boehringer Ingelheim and was a key contributor to the development and launch of oral nintedanib for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), scleroderma associated ILD (SSc-ILD), and the other progressive fibrosing ILDs (PFILD). Prior to joining Boehringer Ingelheim, Dr. Conoscenti held various titles and senior pulmonary critical care consultant over 17 years at Norwalk Hospital in Norwalk, CT.

Dr. Conoscenti earned a Doctor of Medicine from St George’s University and a Bachelor of Science in Physiology from Fordham University. He completed his residency at Hackensack University Medical Center, where he additionally served one year as Chief Medical Resident. Following this, he completed his Pulmonary Critical Care Fellowship at Norwalk Hospital/Yale University School of Medicine. Dr. Conoscenti is a Fellow of the American Thoracic Society, the American College of Chest Physicians and the European Respiratory Society. He received the Norman S Brady Fellowship where he served sabbatical time at the Brompton Chest Hospital in London.

Kimberley Cummings, Ph.D., RAC is a regulatory affairs executive with more than two decades of experience leading global regulatory strategy across pharmaceutical and medical device development, with a particular focus on rare diseases and combination products. Dr. Cummings most recently served as Senior Vice President of Regulatory Affairs & Clinical Development at Neurogastrx, where she advanced programs targeting gastrointestinal disorders. Prior to that, she was Vice President of Regulatory Affairs at Levo Therapeutics, overseeing late-stage development for a rare neuroendocrine condition.

Earlier in her career, Dr. Cummings held senior consulting roles at global CROs, where she led cross-functional teams and regulatory submissions spanning all phases of development. She is recognized for her expertise in FDA interactions, orphan drug designations, and strategic alignment across regulatory, clinical, and quality functions. Dr. Cummings earned her Ph.D. in biomedical sciences with a specialization in pathology from the Medical College of Ohio (now part of the University of Toledo) and holds Regulatory Affairs Certification (RAC) from the Regulatory Affairs Professionals Society.

Jill Denning is a clinical research executive/scientist with close to 30 years of experience guiding drug development from first-in-human/early-stage clinical pharmacology to late-phase patient trials and regulatory submissions. She has held senior executive roles at companies including Arbutus Biopharma, Kinevant Sciences and Altavant Sciences, where she directed cross-functional teams spanning clinical development, operations, statistics, data management, pharmacovigilance, regulatory, and patient advocacy. Ms. Denning most recently led clinical development at Kinevant Sciences and prior to that at Enzyvant and Altavant Sciences, working in pulmonary arterial hypertension and pulmonary sarcoidosis. She was part of the team that brought the first cure for hepatitis C to the market from FIH through NDA while at Pharmasset and Gilead Sciences. Ms. Denning got her start at Glaxowellcome working in early clinical development, after which she was the Director of a Clinical Pharmacology Unit conducting early development studies in healthy volunteers and patients. She is known for her ability to bridge scientific insight with operational execution and for her collaborative leadership style and ability to bring out the best in cross-functional teams.
She holds an MS in Exercise Physiology from UNC Chapel Hill.

Michelle Patterson, MBA, PMP is the SVP of program management at Avalyn.  Ms. Patterson brings over 25 years of industry experience, spanning multiple therapeutic areas, product classes, and markets.  Most recently, she served as VP of Program Management and NASH program team leader at Intercept Pharmaceuticals where she led the resubmission of the NASH NDA. Prior to Intercept, Ms. Patterson served in senior project leadership roles at both large and small biotech companies including Novan, Roivant Sciences, GlaxoSmithKline, and Eli Lilly.

She has led six new drug applications over the last decade and has contributed to three product approvals: Taltz®, Gemtesa®, and Rapivab®.  In parallel with these major milestones, she has developed fit-for-purpose portfolio and program management processes and tools to improve the quality and reliability of delivery of drug development programs. She is widely recognized in the industry for her drug development expertise and team leadership. Ms. Patterson expertly manages the delivery of key product portfolio milestones by integrating work across multiple functions including regulatory, pre-clinical, clinical, manufacturing and product development.

Ms. Patterson earned a Bachelor of Science in biology from Cornell University and an MBA from the University of Phoenix. She is also a certified Project Management Professional.

Stephen Pham, Ph.D. is the SVP of product development of Avalyn Pharma. Dr. Pham has 25 years of industry experience in inhalation and ophthalmic products, ranging from product concept through approval and launch.

Prior to joining Avalyn, Dr. Pham served as a full-time consultant for Sunovion Pharmaceuticals where from Phase 2 through NDA submission and review, Dr. Pham was responsible for Lonhala^® Magnair^® (glycopyrrolate inhalation solution for use with eFlow^® Closed System nebulizer) product development for the treatment of COPD. Prior to Sunovion, he was senior director of product development at Elevation Pharmaceuticals where he was responsible for Lonhala Magnair CMC until the Sunovion acquisition in 2012. Previously and while at Dey Laboratories (now Mylan), Dr. Pham was an inventor of Perforomist^® (formoterol fumarate inhalation solution) for the treatment of COPD and it’s lead scientist through approval and product launch. Dr. Pham was also an inventor of Bromsite^® (brofenac ophthalmic solution) for post-operative ocular inflammation and pain.

Dr. Pham is well-published and holds over 20 published patents in formulation and drug delivery. Dr. Pham has a Ph.D. in pharmaceutics, an M.S. in theoretical chemistry, and a B.S. in chemistry, all from the University of Minnesota.

Frank Salisbury joined Avalyn as Senior Vice President, Commercial, in April 2026. He has over 24 years of experience in biotech, including multiple commercial leadership roles across small biotech and large pharma, with a focus on rare lung diseases. Mr. Salisbury has helped launch a number of transformative respiratory treatments, including: ESBRIET for Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis, WINREVAIR for Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH), and OPSUMIT for PAH. He joined Avalyn from PureTech Health, where he was the Senior Vice President for Commercial and Product Strategy. Prior to PureTech, Mr. Salisbury held leadership roles at Acceleron, Sage Therapeutics, InterMune / Genentech, and Actelion. At InterMune/Genentech, he led the launch of ESBRIET in IPF in the US, first as Vice President for US Marketing and then as National Head of Sales for ESBRIET.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Salisbury held roles in strategy consulting, molecular diagnostics, and non-profit public policy. He earned a BA in International Relations and an MBA from Stanford University. Mr. Salisbury also spent a year as a Fulbright Scholar in Germany, where he analyzed HIV prevention interventions.

Ms. Turner was President and CEO of Carmot Therapeutics from January 2023 to June 2024. From September 2022 to December 2022 she was COO. As CEO she completed a $150 million cross over round of financing and well as successfully orchestrated a dual track IPO/strategic transaction process which ultimately resulted in the acquisition of Carmot by Roche for $3.1 billion. In addition to the transactions, Ms. Turner also built a very successful team growing Carmot from approximately 35 people to approximately 70 people which included leadership in key functions such as CMC, Quality, Finance, Legal and HR. Before Carmot, Ms. Turner served as Chief General Counsel and Secretary at Lyell Immunopharma, Inc. Notably, she oversaw the execution of the company’s $400 million Series C financing and the fourth largest Nasdaq IPO which raised gross proceeds of approximately $425 million. In addition, Ms. Turner oversaw numerous strategic partnerships including the Company’s development and commercialization partnership with GSK which included a $200 million investment. Prior to Lyell, Ms. Turner served as Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of Sangamo Therapeutics, Inc. a publicly traded gene therapy and gene editing company. Ms. Turner served as Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Head of Portfolio Strategy at Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc., a publicly-traded allogeneic cell therapy company. At Atara, in addition to legal and portfolio strategy, Ms. Turner oversaw human resources as well as medical affairs. Prior to Atara, Ms. Turner served as General Counsel and Secretary at Orexigen Therapeutics, Inc. a publicly-traded company focused on metabolic diseases. During her tenure at Orexigen, Ms. Turner oversaw the legal, human resources, government affairs and facilities functions. Ms. Turner started her career at Cooley as a corporate securities associate. Ms. Turner received her J.D. from UCLA School of Law and her B.A. in Environmental Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Jill is a Partner with SR One based on the East Coast.  Jill’s educational background is in biochemistry and her career has spanned 20 years in various facets of the biotechnology industry.  Initially, she spent time in strategy consulting focusing on commercial projects with pharma, then migrated to operating roles in corporate development, particularly at Dynavax Technologies (DVAX), where she completed multiple pharma partnerships and private and public financings. Jill started her investing career at SR One in 2011 and has been involved in marquee investments including Alios Biopharma, Progyny (PGNY) and Principia Biopharma (PRNB), among others. Jill received a BS in chemistry from Duke University and a MS in Biochemistry, Cellular and Molecular Biology from Johns Hopkins University.

Mr. Congleton has nearly 40 years of pharmaceutical experience including roles as CEO of both private and public companies. He has worked in cardiovascular, GI and CNS companies with a focus on providing solutions for patients and their caregivers. He was involved in the launch and eventually led the team behind Copaxone in multiple sclerosis.

Mr. Congleton has experience in general management, global strategic marketing, brand management, human resource and culture development and corporate leadership. Work experience includes executive leadership, cross-functional teams and global teams focused on development of brands, strategies and corporate financing.

Mr. Congleton is the Chief Executive Officer and Board member of Mineralys Therapeutics, Inc. a public company focused on aldosterone driven cardiorenal conditions. He was the Founding CEO taking the company from a private, early-stage entity to a public, pre-commercial stage biotech.

Mr. Congleton was Chief Executive Officer and Board member of Impel Pharmaceuticals from 2017-2020. Impel was a private biotech company focused on CNS disorders through novel upper nasal cavity delivery. Prior to Impel, he served as Chief Executive Officer and Board member at Nivalis Therapeutics from 2015-2017.

Prior to that, Mr. Congleton held multiple roles of ascending responsibility at Teva Pharmaceuticals. He was part of the original team responsible for the launch of Copaxone for multiple sclerosis in the United States. He led the Canadian Teva Neuroscience business from 2003-2007 and led the United States Neuroscience business from 2007-2011. He also led the global CNS franchise from 2011-2014.

Mr. Congleton attend Kansas State University, where he graduated with a B.S. in marketing and a minor in microbiology.

Dr. Friedman is currently a Managing Director and Senior Analyst at Suvretta Capital Management, LLC for its healthcare/biotech-focused Averill investment strategies. Previously, Dr. Friedman was a Healthcare Analyst at Scopia Capital Management, and before that worked in biotechnology equity research at Morgan Stanley.

Dr. Friedman attended schools including Duke University, the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and Harvard Business School.

Kate Haviland is a life sciences executive with more than 20 years of experience building emerging, high-growth companies and advancing the development of innovative therapies in oncology and rare diseases. Kate is passionate about building entrepreneurial organizations that work with urgency to integrate advancements in molecular science, clinical science, diagnostic technologies, global healthcare delivery systems and the financial world with the goal of extending and improving patients’ lives.

Kate is the former President and Chief Executive Officer of Blueprint Medicines (2022-2025) until Blueprint’s recent acquisition by Sanofi. Previously, she served as Chief Operating Officer (2019 -2021) and Chief Business Officer (2016 – 2019). During her time at Blueprint Kate worked to advance two medicines from discovery to global approvals, achieved 5 breakthrough therapy designations, nominated 17 development candidates and raised nearly $4 billion through capital markets, structured financial transactions and business development.

Kate holds a B.A. from Wesleyan University with a double major in Molecular Biology/Biochemistry and Economics and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. Kate currently serves as chair of the board of directors at Fulcrum Therapeutics and GC Therapeutics, as an independent director on the board of directors at Bicara Therapeutics, as a member of the board of directors at Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) and as a trustee of the Boston Museum of Science.

Erin Lavelle has over 25 years of strategic and operational leadership experience in the biopharmaceutical industry.  She most recently served as Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at ProfoundBio where she led a $112 million Series B and IPO preparation and negotiated a $1.9 billion sale to Genmab in 2024. Prior to her leadership roles at ProfoundBio, she was the COO/CFO at Eliem Therapeutics, a biotechnology firm based in Seattle. She was instrumental in orchestrating Eliem’s Initial Public Offering (IPO). Before Eliem, she was the COO of Alder Biopharmaceuticals, Inc., where she led Alder’s $2.3 billion acquisition by H. Lundbeck A/S. Her extensive tenure in the biopharmaceutical sector also includes 15 years at Amgen, culminating as the General Manager of Amgen’s Taiwan affiliate. Prior to this leadership role, she was based in Hong Kong as an Executive Director for the Japan Asia-Pacific region, spearheading Commercial Excellence and Digital Health initiatives. Her earlier positions at Amgen involved executive leadership in Global Marketing, Global Commercial Finance, and Strategy & Corporate Development. Erin began her career as an investment banker within the healthcare group at Merrill Lynch & Co. She holds a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Economics from Yale University and has served on the boards of Neoleukin (NLTX) and Vitaeris, a private company located in Vancouver.

Lyn Baranowski is the Chief Executive Officer of Avalyn Pharma, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing targeted medicines for patients with rare lung diseases, including pulmonary fibrosis and other interstitial lung diseases (ILDs). Currently approved therapeutic options slow pulmonary fibrosis progression but are associated with significant toxicities that restrict their use and dosing. Avalyn is developing a pipeline of new inhaled formulations of approved medicines designed to reduce systemic exposure and deliver medication directly to the site of disease.

Lyn has more than two decades of experience leading a vast array of functions in biotech, big pharma, and venture capital firms with a focus in the immunology and respiratory therapeutic areas. Prior to joining Avalyn, Ms. Baranowski served as Chief Operating Officer at Altavant Sciences, a biopharmaceutical company that successfully built and developed a portfolio of therapies for rare respiratory diseases prior to its 2019 acquisition by Sumitomo Dainippon. Earlier in her career, she served in senior-level corporate development and commercial roles, including Vice President of Commercial Development at Pearl Therapeutics, which successfully developed a portfolio of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) medicines prior to its sale to AstraZeneca for $1.15B in 2013; and Vice President at a healthcare-focused venture capital firm based in New York. She previously held roles in business development, marketing and public affairs with Novartis Pharmaceuticals in Switzerland and the U.S.

She earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Arts from American University. In addition to her role at Avalyn, Ms. Baranowski serves on the Board of Advisors for Life Science Cares and the planning committee for the American Thoracic Society’s Respiratory Innovation Summit, an annual meeting that unites the innovators, investors, and clinicians who are leading the fight to create powerful new treatments for deadly and crippling diseases of the lungs and airways. She was recognized as the 2024 PharmaVoice 100 recipient for her commitment to innovation, respiratory medicine, and patients.